The roster of the Philippine national indoor volleyball team will be completed once seasoned Brazilian coach Jorge Edson Souza de Brito arrives in the country in the first week of August.
De Brito, a former member of the Brazilian national squad, will join Ogie Mamon in making a final decision on who will make the final cut in the national men’s and women’s squads.
Philippine National Volleyball Federation Inc. president Ramon “Tats” Suzara said this yesterday after he and officials of leading biscuit company Republic Biscuit Corp. or Rebisco sealed on Tuesday a three-year sponsorship agreement to support all of the national sports association’s programs.
Suzara said there are still four empty slots in the national women’s pool after mainstays like Alyssa Valdez, Kim Fajardo, Dawn Macandili, and Jia Morado, missed joining the initial tryouts over health and safety concerns.
“This will be discussed by the head coach (Ogie Mamon) and the Brazilian coach (de Brito), and on the list of athletes in the tryouts,” said Suzara.
De Brito will get the national squad ready for the 2021 Asian Women’s Championship in August and the 2021 Southeast Asian Games in November.
As for the Philippine men’s and women’s beach volleyball teams, both squads will go against dangerous opponents in the Asian Volleyball Confederation Continental Cup from June 18 to 19, 2021, in Nakhon Pathom province in Thailand.
Rebisco President Jonathan Ng said they have complete faith in the coaching staff and officials of the PNVFI in coming up with a good program for volleyball.
“We will put faith in Mr. Ramon Suzara’s team, and I think they will give us a good job in giving us competitive teams,” said Ng.
Also in the signing rites were Rebisco Business Unit Head Noric Ng and Corporate Plan Head Rolando Delfino, Philippine Olympic Committee Secretary General Atty. Edwin Gastanes and Philippine Sports Commission commissioner Charles Raymond Maxey.
The two teams flew to Thailand last Sunday to compete in the Olympic qualifying tournament that will grant two slots, one each in the men’s and women’s divisions.
The women’s team A of Cebuana Cherry Ann Rondina and partner Bernadeth Pons will meet New Zealand’s Francesca Kirwan and Olivia Macdonald in their first match.
Team B of Floremel Rodriguez and Baby Love Barbon will confront New Zealand’s second pair of Alice Zeimann and Shauna Marie Polley.
The pair of Jaron Requinton and James Buytrago will start their campaign against Lebanon’s Jean Abi Hedid and Joe El Azzi in the men’s division.
The same pair of Lebanese spikers will clash with Philippine Team B’s Jude Garcia and Anthony Lemuel Arbasto.